Doing the Right Thing

by Barbara Elsborg

  Will looked everywhere for Addie. It hadn’t escaped his attention that Vee had disappeared too. He concluded they had to be in the Ladies’. Together. He stared at the door wondering what they were saying. He wanted Addie to walk out so he could explain, but it was Vee who emerged.

  “Waiting for me?” she asked.

  “No. Is Addie in there?”

  “Come and dance.”

  “Is Addie in there?” Will repeated.

  Vee moved closer to him and slid her hand under his jacket. Will pushed her away.

  “I’ll tell Jack you’re not being very nice to me,” she said.

  “You can tell him what you like.”

  Louise came out of the toilets and slipped past them. “Excuse me.”

  “Did you see Addie in there?” Will asked.

  “No.”

  “Forget her. Come and dance with me.” Vee pulled his arm.

  Will looked at her and wished she wasn’t a woman so he could punch her. “Grow up, Vee. It’s over. I don’t want you anymore. After what you’ve done tonight, I never want to see you again.”

  Vee grabbed her coat from the cloakroom and stalked outside. She was furious with Will and furious with herself for underestimating his feelings for that cow. She’d give him time to cool down. Vee needed to be looked after. She didn’t cope well on her own. She’d envisaged a month or so of being pampered, maybe even a nice holiday, before she “lost” the baby. Now she’d have to think up something else.

  She couldn’t lose Will, she just couldn’t. He’d loved her once, so he could love her again. He was the only man who’d ever really looked after her, cherished her. The others ended up letting her down. Will had never done that. It had been a mistake to let him slip through her fingers, but she hadn’t lost him yet.

  Vee almost smiled when she saw Addie sitting in the car. In her opinion, some people were born predators and others were born prey. Vee considered herself the ultimate predator and who was she to resist when prey just lay down and asked for it?

  She dragged open the door and glared at Addie. “What are you doing in my car?”

  Addie jumped. “It’s not your car.”

  “Lisa lent it to me, not you. I want to go back to the hotel.”

  Addie got out and Vee changed her mind. If Addie was with her, she wasn’t with Will. “You can come with me, but I’m driving. You can show me the way.”

  “I’ll wait for the coach,” Addie said.

  “You and I need to talk.”

  “I have nothing to say to you.” Addie started toward the restaurant and Vee caught hold of her arm. She softened her voice. “Please, Addie. I’m tired. I know I’m probably the last person you want to be with but I really want to go back to the hotel. Will’s working so I don’t want to bother him, only I don’t know the way back.”

  When Addie sighed and got in the other side of the car, Vee forced back a giggle.

  “Right at the crossroads,” Addie said and then added in a quiet voice, “I think.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It was a while before Addie realized they’d taken a wrong turn. Vee had gone on and on about how she and Will wanted to give their marriage another go for the sake of the baby and Addie wondered what the hell she’d been thinking, getting in a car with this witch. She hadn’t been thinking, well not beyond getting back to the hotel as fast as possible and not having to speak to Will ever again. Only she’d run from someone she should have talked to and into the path of someone she didn’t want to talk to. All her life she’d shied away from confrontation. She wanted to be different, thought Will had made her different, but it wasn’t so easy to change.

  Addie stared through the window. She hadn’t been paying attention, now they were lost and to make matters worse it had started to snow. She kept hoping that the hotel would hove into view like a blazing beacon. It didn’t.

  “Slow down a bit,” Addie said as they slid into a bend.

  “I’m not going fast. Don’t be such a wimp. What the hell did Will see in you?”

  Addie stayed silent.

  “I know you’ve been fucking my husband and you’re not the first. Did you think you were?”

  Addie kept her eyes forward. The car speeded up.

  “Will usually goes for pretty, delicate women, not giant beanstalks. How tall are you?”

  Addie wrapped her fingers around the edge of the seat. When she made mistakes, she made big ones. Why had she got in the car? She’d been thinking it would give her the chance to pack and slip away before the coach returned. She should have carried on thinking. Instead she was stuck listening to Vee’s venomous French-accented voice. She felt like an incompetent knife thrower’s assistant, waiting for the blade to draw blood.

  “You’re not his type. He hates women with big feet and ugly hands. He’ll get bored of you. He’ll come back to me like he always does, but this time he’ll stay because of our baby.”

  Vee’s voice broke and a knife pierced Addie’s heart.

  “You’re such a cow,” Vee sobbed. “Couldn’t you find a man of your own? Did you have to steal mine?”

  The car slithered and Addie bit back the impulse to tell her to be careful.

  “I didn’t know he was married. I didn’t know about the baby. If I had, I wouldn’t have got involved with him. I’m sorry.” Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

  “Just stay away from him. While he thinks he can still sleep with you, he won’t do the right thing and look after me and our child. He’s mine, not yours.” The razor edge in Vee’s voice gave Addie chills.

  “Chatte, you’re ruining everything. Have you any idea how much I fucking hate you?” Vee shrieked.

  The car began to shift sideways and Addie put her palms against the dashboard. As the vehicle slid out of control, Vee panicked and wrenched at the wheel. The car shot across the road.

  “Oh God,” Vee screamed.

  Addie bit back her own cry as the car spun in circles while Vee struggled with the wheel. So this was it, Addie thought. She was going to die sitting next to the person she hated most in the world.

  “Why won’t it stop?” Vee yelled. “It’s your fault.”

  And at those words, Addie moved from resignation that her number was up, to desperation that it shouldn’t be up with Vee.

  “Take your foot off the brake,” she ordered.

  “Are you crazy?”

  “You’re making it worse when you brake.”

  But Vee slammed her foot down as the car crested a hill and began to move faster. The wheels locked. “Merde.”

  “Stop braking,” Addie shouted.

  By now they were tobogganing sideways. Addie clung to her seat.

  “Do something,” Vee sobbed.

  What was Addie supposed to do? Wave a magic wand like Harry bloody Potter? She watched in fascinated horror as the view through the windscreen changed from snow-covered hedge to snow-covered road and back to snow-covered hedge and then to snow-covered bank. Shit. Addie shut her eyes.

  As the car tipped over, Addie’s head smashed against the side window. The impact slammed the air from her lungs. The airbag exploded from the steering wheel and Vee stopped screaming for a few seconds before she started again. Louder.

  Addie opened her eyes. The engine was off. The car was at a crazy angle, but it could have been worse. At least she was still alive and so, unfortunately, was Vee.

  “You idiot, you stupid fucking idiot,” Vee shouted.

  “Shut the fuck up, Vee. We aren’t dead.”

  “Why did you tell me to stop braking?” Vee demanded. “Look what you’ve done. We’re stuck now.”

  Addie tried to move, but the seat belt pinned her in place and Vee hung above in her white coat like an avenging angel.

  “Merde,” Vee said and elbowed Addie in the face as she tried to push herself up past the deflating airbag.

  “Are you all right?” Addie asked. “Are you hurt?”

  “You’re hurting me,” Vee snapped.

&n
bsp; Since Addie was trapped under Vee, she wondered how that was possible.

  “There’s no way out my side. You’ll have to unfasten your belt and try to open your door,” Addie said.

  Vee struggled briefly and gave up. “Why don’t you call Will,” she snapped.

  “I don’t have a phone.”

  “Moron.”

  Addie bridled and asked a question to which she thought she already knew the answer. “Why don’t you use yours?”

  “I left my purse at the restaurant.”

  The snow had already started to build up on the windscreen and the temperature was dropping inside the car.

  “Well, the coach should be along soon,” Vee muttered.

  “Provided we’ve come the same way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Addie winced as Vee’s elbow pressed into her ribs.

  “We may not be on the right road,” she admitted.

  “You wanted this to happen.” Vee tried to push herself away from Addie. “You wanted to kill me so you can have Will.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Addie said. “I deliberately drove us into a ditch and now I’m going to strangle you and bury you in the snow.”

  Neither of them said anything for several minutes.

  “I’m cold,” Vee said.

  “Turn the engine on. Only not for long in case the exhaust’s blocked.”

  But turning the key did nothing. Cold was seeping into the vehicle, finding its way past the door seals, though the dashboard, up through the floor. Addie could see her breath as she exhaled, the windows already fogged.

  “I smell something burning,” Vee yelped.

  She began to thrash around. Addie tried to avoid her flailing arms and Vee dropped onto her as the seat belt came undone. Moments later, Vee pushed open the door, her pointed heels pressing into Addie’s side as she stood on her to lever herself out. Once she was free of Vee’s weight, Addie unclipped herself and followed, squirming through the gap as she lifted the heavy door.

  Vee stood in the middle of the road. The snow fell steadily. There was no sign of life in any direction, no lights and no other tyre tracks, apart from the ones that showed their slithery path down the hill, over the bank and into the ditch.

  “My boots are going to be ruined,” Vee wailed. “They’re Manolo Blahniks.”

  Addie looked down at her open-toed cocktail shoes and bit her lip. Vee wore a long woollen winter coat while Addie had a little jacket over a non-existent evening dress.

  “There might be something in the car we can use,” Addie said.

  “Oh yes,” Vee said. “I remember seeing a pair of Wellingtons.”

  Addie retrieved the key from the ignition and opened the trunk. She dragged Vee’s case out into the snow, and while Vee busied herself with that, she picked up Lisa’s pink Wellingtons. Vee took off her coat to pull on two sweaters and then put the coat back on. She wrapped a silver-grey pashmina round her head and neck, clipped up her case and put it back in the car.

  Addie hated herself for asking, but did it anyway. “Is there a sweater I could wear or a pair of trousers?”

  “No, all my clothes are much too small for you. You’ll ruin them.”

  Addie gritted her teeth and leaned against the toppled car. She slipped off her shoe and forced her foot into a Wellington. Lisa was two sizes smaller than her, but Addie’s toes were already numb. She pushed her foot into the other boot and jammed her shoes in her pockets. Her fingers touched her gloves and she pulled them out. Addie didn’t miss Vee’s venomous look when she saw them.

  “Now what do we do?” Vee demanded.

  “We should stay with the car.”

  But Addie was beginning to wonder how far they were off the right road. Maybe even if people came looking, they wouldn’t find them.

  “If we stay here we might freeze to death,” Vee said.

  “If we walk we might end up too tired to reach safety and die anyway.”

  “This is all your fault.” Vee pushed her hard and Addie fell against the car.

  “No, it isn’t. I wasn’t driving, you were.”

  “Oh, my baby.” Vee clutched her stomach.

  Addie winced. “Maybe we should get back in the car. It will be warmer,”

  “No, I think we’ve waited long enough,” Vee said. “We’re lost, thanks to you. No one is going to find us. We may as well keep going.” She took two steps before she slipped and fell.

  Addie rushed to her side. “Are you all right?”

  Vee began to wail. “No, I’m not all right. I can’t be expected to walk in these boots. I need those Wellingtons.”

  “I need them more. I can’t walk in open-toed shoes. If you want to walk, we’ll walk. Hang on to me and we’ll do this together,” Addie said.

  They moved through the snow in silence, Vee sliding and Addie keeping her on her feet.

  Addie was wet, tired and cold in any order. Her hair was plastered to her head and the bottom of her dress dragged in the snow, gathering icy lumps like a dog’s paws. Her feet hurt so much she could barely lift one leg in front of the other. But their progress was slow because Vee couldn’t walk without slipping. To make matters worse, Addie had no idea whether they were walking toward or away from safety.

  “I need to rest,” Vee whined.

  “We can’t. We might get hypothermia.” Addie was already shivering, her fingers numb even inside the gloves.

  “I don’t care.”

  Addie pulled her on, toying with the idea of burying her under the next snowdrift. “Think of the baby. Keep going.”

  “I can’t. I have to stop.”

  “Let me see if I can carry you for a bit,” Addie said.

  Vee didn’t argue. Addie staggered a few steps after Vee jumped on her back and then she set off again. Head down. One foot in front of the other. Vee snuggled against her and Addie’s back at least felt warmer, but her legs were like blocks of ice.

  “I’ll never forget the day I met Will,” Vee said in her ear. “It was so romantic. I was rollerblading in Paris. Will pulled me into his arms as I was about to crash-dive into the Seine. We took one look at each other and that was it.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Will’s parents are lovely. His mum and I have so much in common.”

  Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall, Addie sang silently.

  “When I met Will, I knew he’d look after me forever.”

  And if one green bottle should accidentally fall and hit you on the head, I’d be bloody glad. As a reward for that thought Addie slipped and fell. Vee landed on top of her, knocking the air from her lungs.

  “We’re going to die,” Vee moaned in her ear.

  So tempting.

  “My fingers are cold. Could I have your gloves for a while?”

  Addie pulled them off and gave them to her. She could tuck her hands behind Vee’s legs.

  Addie wasn’t sure how far she’d walked before she heard something other than Vee whining. By the time they’d turned the corner the vehicle had gone, its tracks clearly visible.

  Vee dropped from Addie’s back and started to cry. Addie forced an arm to comfort her. She’d have been happier petting a Tasmanian Devil.

  “It’ll be okay. Now we know this road’s in use, someone else will come along. Climb on again. You’re not too heavy.”

  “I’m not heavy at all,” Vee said in indignation.

  She felt heavier and heavier with each step Addie took. They shouldn’t have left the car. What was the advice? Stay with your vehicle. What if Vee lost the baby? Addie kept going.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “Hey, this is the Ladies’,” one of the waitresses protested as Ed walked through the door.

  “Sorry. Looking for someone.”

  Inside the toilets, a wave of shocked faces turned from the mirror. None of them Addie’s.

  “Addie?” he called at the line of closed doors.

  No answer. Ed swallowed hard and then bent down so he
could check under the doors of the cubicles.

  “What are you doing, you pervert?” a women yelled. “I’m going to tell the manager.”

  A purse collided with Ed’s head. With no sign of Addie’s dress or the sexy high heels, Ed beat a hasty retreat. He didn’t know where else to look and suspected there was nowhere else.

  Will strode toward him. “A waiter saw two women drive off in a red car. One of them was definitely Vee.”

  “You think the other is Addie? Why the hell would she go anywhere with Vee?” A dozen scenarios ran through Ed’s head. All of them bad.

  “I’ve paid the waiter to drive me back to the hotel. I’m not waiting for the coach,” Will said.

  “I’ll come too.”

  When they got back, there was no sign of Vee or Addie. Will went to check upstairs while Ed looked around the hotel. He even braved the Ladies’ again, this time they were empty. Back in the lobby, each looked at the other and their shoulders dropped.

  “So we just wait?” Will asked.

  “They set off before us. Why aren’t they here?”

  “Maybe Addie was navigating.” Will gave a little smile.

  “You don’t think Vee would do anything stupid, do you?”

  “What? You mean did she force Addie into the car at knifepoint because she intends to kill her and bury her in the woods?”

  Ed gulped. “That wasn’t funny. You know what Vee’s like. All this would have been so easy to avoid. You should have told Addie about the baby. How do you think she felt, watching bloody Jack Magelan toasting the happy event?”

  Will pulled at his hair with his fingers. “I was going to tell her, but it’s not easy.”

  Ed’s jaw tightened. “Easy? You’re supposed to be thinking about Addie, not yourself.”

  “I am thinking about her,” Will said. “Let’s go and look for them. We’ll organize some sort of search party.”

  Addie trudged along the drive, trailing her dress through the slush like a jilted bride, with Vee straggling behind as the reluctant bridesmaid. She heard her name being called and looked up to see Will running toward them, Ed close behind.